


Awakenings

by Rikudera



Series: Awakenings verse [13]
Category: Gundam Wing, Kingdom Hearts, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Sharing a Body
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-03-27
Updated: 2012-02-07
Packaged: 2017-10-29 15:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikudera/pseuds/Rikudera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Shinji Ikari met the three strange teens with mysterious weapons called Keyblades, he didn’t expect that he would be able to wield one as well, nor did he expect to be taken on a journey to various worlds, stopping the threat of the Heartless and finding the Awakened. For a boy who only wants to be at peace, how will he deal with this strange new set of circumstances? When the threads of the past interweave with the events of the present, what future will he make?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Post-KH2. Crossover with Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gundam Wing. Post-End of Evangelion, anime timeline, but with some elements from the manga. Post-series Gundam Wing, no-Mariemaia AU.
> 
> This is the Kingdom Hearts universe told from an outsider’s point of view, so familiarity with the games is not necessary, although there will be spoilers for at least KH1 and KH2. Familiarity with Gundam Wing is not necessary, either, but it helps. This entire fic was plotted out before BBS or coded came out in Japan.

**Prologue**

It was midday, and the sun was shining brightly overhead the small island. A redheaded girl was meandering along the beach, humming softly to herself as she looked for shells and bits of sea-glass. Seeing a glint off the edge of the water some yards away, she walked over, eager to inspect what promised to be an interesting find. To her surprise, however, the object in question was a message rolled up inside a bottle, a wax design of three intersecting circles sealing the paper shut. If she tilted her head the right way, the design almost looked like something with… large, round ears.

Gasping in recognition, she ran over to the other side of the island, gripping the bottle tightly in her hand, to where two boys were resting near a tropical tree. They were having some sort of conversation, and the shorter, brunet boy was smiling up at something the taller, silver-haired boy had said.

“Sora! Riku!” the girl called, running up to them. They looked towards her immediately, and their eyes widened as they saw the bottle with the message inside. Handing the bottle to the brunet boy, she looked over his shoulder as he quickly uncorked it, shaking out and unrolling the parchment, the silver-haired boy on his other side. The letter was indeed from the King, as it had his signature at the bottom, but it was the contents of the letter that were truly shocking. Looking at the King’s letter, the three teens tried to comprehend exactly what it was saying.

“An ocean full of hearts...” the brunet boy wondered aloud, his mouth still slightly agape, “…and the Awakened. What could this all mean?”

“It means we have to make things right again,” the girl replied, a solemn, somewhat sad note in her voice. It was painful, to know that there were so many hearts no longer in their proper places. The boys nodded at this statement.

“But how do _we_ fit in to…” he started again, before falling silent for a moment, and then seeming to answer his own question right after. “Oh, right, Roxas and Naminé.” He looked at the girl briefly, and she smiled in acknowledgement.

“It’s not going to be easy,” the silver-haired boy said, frowning slightly. “Based on what was in the letter, we’re not the only ones who’re interested in this Ocean of Hearts.” The brunet boy made an exasperated noise.

“You forgot the most important thing,” he responded, a grin creeping onto his face. “We’re unstoppable as long as we’re together!” The other two teens couldn’t help but smile.

“True,” the girl said, letting out a brief giggle before calming down and focusing her energy once more on the letter. “And when we _do_ find those other Keybearers the King talked about, we’ll have more people working together, to help fix this.”

“It’s settled then!” The brunet declared. “We meet the King in Radiant Garden, and then we go out and find the new Keybearers and the Awakened.” This statement seemed to ignite all three of the teens, and they quickly began a discussion of their immediate plans; one mentioned spending the rest of the day getting their ship ready, another talked about the supplies they would need to acquire for the larger journey to follow, and the third mentioned writing a brief letter to her parents so that they wouldn’t worry in excess. There were so many things to do all of a sudden, and so very little time in which to get them done.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Things in Radiant Garden were as peaceful as could be expected. The town area had been expanded since their last visit, and the castle had been in the process of being cleaned up one room at a time, but the reappearance of the Heartless in the areas surrounding the castle had halted that. The Restoration Committee was doing its best to keep the creatures at bay, but there was an undercurrent of uneasiness present that worried the three teens.

Seeing the teens wandering about Radiant Garden seemed to reassure the townspeople somewhat, but the three visitors only stopped to buy a few basic supplies before heading into one of the houses in the borough nearest the once-again-abandoned castle. Mere minutes later, they exited the house quickly and headed straight for the old castle. When they saw the Heartless, their faces quickly turned serious.

“It’s just like they said, isn’t it?” the redheaded girl said, concern clear in her eyes. “Everyone’s worked so _hard_ to get rid of the Heartless, and now they’re back all of a sudden.”

“We need to get this situation fixed as soon as possible,” the taller boy said, mouth set in a firm line as he gazed at the castle.

“And we need to find those other Keybearers even faster,” the brunet boy agreed, then turned to the girl. “Are you sure you’ll be able to lead us to where they are?” he asked her.

“I’m not exactly sure how it works,” she replied, “but I’m positive the King knows what he’s talking about.”

“I wonder why he had to leave so soon…” The taller boy speculated, “We only got to talk to him for a minute or two.”

“There is nothing that precious King of yours can tell you that will help you,” a voice behind the three teens called. Whipping around to see the source of the comment, the teens saw a young man with shoulder-length, silvery hair, covered head to toe in black leather and smiling like a contented cat who had just found three _very_ delicious mice. “Very soon, this world and all the other worlds in existence will belong to Mother. You’d be wise to stop now, or you will be very sorry.”

“Who are you?” the brunet boy demanded, pulling out his weapon from thin air and sliding smoothly into a battle stance, his two companions mimicking his actions. “What are you planning?” The man smiled wider.

“You’ll see,” he replied, eyes full of amusement, and disappeared into a swirling, black portal.

“At least we have some idea of who’s behind this,” the taller boy said, as his weapon also seemed to disappear back to wherever it was he kept it.

“Don’t worry,” the girl reassured him, putting a hand on his arm. “We’ll get to the bottom of this in no time.” The boy let out a deep breath, and visibly relaxed.

“Yeah,’’ the brunet boy added, determined. “We just have to go get the new Keybearers on…” he paused thoughtfully and looked up at the other boy, “what was the name of the world again?"

“It was Tokyo-3,” the taller boy replied, a small smile creeping up on his face. “You’re _impossible_ sometimes, you know that, right?”

“ _You’re_ the one that’s impossible,” the brunet retorted, attempting to pout for effect, but evidently failing as a large grin quickly took its place. He looked around the area once, then back at his two companions and nodded firmly. “Alright, let’s go to Tokyo-3.”


	2. Chapter 1

The boy known as Ikari Shinji was sitting on the sand, his legs stretched out in front of him, leaning slightly back with his weight on his hands. He was staring out at the ocean, the only sounds of the world being the orange waves lapping quietly on the shore. Beside him, Asuka was laying down, seemingly asleep with her eyes closed and coppery hair fanned out around her head. It was always a little strange seeing her like this, compared to when he’d shared an apartment with her and Misato-san in the now-empty city; she was always so quiet now, and even when she was awake, she would barely talk to him. Shinji frowned at the thought, but… it was only a natural response, after all that’d happened. He contemplated falling asleep as well, as much to take his mind off of things as the lack of much else to do other than look at the memorials he had made or forage for more edible plants. But just as he was about to lay down, he heard a distant noise from the other side of the rocks.  
  
“I thought you said there would be people here, Kairi.”  
  
“They’ve _got_ to be here, Riku, we just haven’t found them yet.” Were those voices Shinji was hearing, or was it just another wishful dream that he and Asuka were not alone anymore?  
  
“This place is empty, you guys. I don’t think anyone’s here.” They were voices that he was hearing.  
  
“Oh, not you, too, Sora. Look, I just know that someone’s here, okay? Just trust me on this.” And the voices seemed to be getting closer! Shinji turned his head towards the rocks just in time to see three teens climbing over them, the first a redheaded girl in a short, pink dress. She was followed by a spiky-haired brunet boy in an unzipped hooded jacket and black shorts with many belts, and a taller, silver-haired boy in a vest and jeans.  
  
The girl and boys seemed as shocked to see Shinji as he was to see them, but the girl quickly recovered and began running towards him. Startled by her sudden movement, Shinji scrambled backwards and to his feet, accidentally bumping against Asuka in the process, waking her roughly as he stood on the uneven sand.  
  
“W-who are you?” Shinji asked the girl, unable to keep the shaking out of his voice, fists clenched awkwardly at his sides. He saw Asuka stand up beside him in his periphery, but didn’t keep his eyes off the three strangers, the two boys having caught up to the girl and standing on either side of her.  
  
“Hello, Shinji, Asuka,” she said, an easy smile on her face. “My name is-“  
  
“How do you know our names?” Asuka interrupted, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Where are you from? You don’t look like you’re from around here, and no one else has ever come out of the ocean.” Shinji did a double-take; after so many days of barely speaking or even acknowledging his presence, the appearance of these strangers seemed to light a spark in her that Shinji wasn’t sure he’d ever see again. The strange girl seemed somewhat taken aback by this as well, though that was probably due to Asuka’s rudeness. The brunet boy, however, quickly filled the silence.  
  
“We’re from another world,” he said happily, blue eyes wide and cheerful.  
  
“Another world?” Shinji repeated. The boy nodded, and Shinji heard Asuka curse softly in German beside him. The only other beings to come from outside the Earth had been-  
  
“We’re human,” the taller, silver-haired boy said abruptly, as if anticipating his question, though he didn’t necessarily answer as nicely as the other two. “We’re not Heartless, don’t worry.” Shinji wanted to turn away from his sharp tone, but couldn’t bring himself to drag his eyes away from the pale curtain of hair that fell past his shoulders. The boy met his eyes, catching Shinji staring at his hair with an intense aquamarine gaze, and Shinji finally looked away, letting his fists unclench.  
  
“Heartless are creatures born from the darkness in a person’s heart,” the brunet boy said, expression now more serious. “The three of us travel to different worlds, fighting the Heartless using our Keyblades. I’m Sora,” he continued, “this is Kairi,” he gestured to the girl, “and he’s Riku,” he jerked his head towards the other boy.  
  
“The… darkness?” Shinji echoed, gaze wandering back towards the boy called Riku. His hair was so light, that same seemingly impossible color he’d only seen once before, and Shinji felt a strange ache at the thought of the other person he’d known with hair like that. Riku seemed to tense slightly at the attention.  
  
“On this world,” the girl, Kairi, said, “the Heartless were called Angels.” Shinji dragged his eyes back towards her. Had these three also fought Angels, calling them Heartless? “The three of us were specially chosen by the Keyblades to fight the Heartless and free hearts that were trapped in darkness. You see,” and here she hesitated for a moment, “the two of you were also specially chosen to fight, which means you also have the power to wield the Keyblade.”  
  
“We came here to tell you,” the spiky-haired Sora continued, “so that you can help us fight the Heartless and restore the hearts.” They were asking him and Asuka to fight.  
  
“You want us to fight Angels for you again,” Asuka said swiftly, thoughts evidently coming to the same conclusions as Shinji’s, though her expression was guarded slightly.  
  
“They’re called Heartless,” Sora corrected. Shinji felt his hands forming into fists again.  
  
“The EVAs are gone,” Asuka said, still guarded, but not as against the idea as Shinji thought she’d be. He knew how much she hated the Angels, but he hadn’t seen her look so alive since… before.  
  
“Those EVAs of yours,” Kairi replied calmly, “they were conduits for your hearts, what you called A.T. Fields. Once you summon your Keyblades, you will be able to use your hearts to fight the Heartless again.” Shinji willed himself to not shake, but could not prevent himself from speaking.  
  
“We don’t _want_ to fight again,” he said, gazing at a patch of sand. “We’re done with all of that.”  
  
“But you have to,” Riku said. Shinji looked up at him and saw that he was blinking, puzzled.  
  
“No,” Shinji responded. “There are three of you; you don’t need us.” Riku’s eyes narrowed, framed by his silver, silver bangs.  
  
“You don’t have a _choice_ ,” Riku said, voice hard. “You have to come with us.” Shinji just continued looking at him. “It’s rude to stare.” Shinji blinked, and Riku’s annoyed face came into focus.  
  
“You remind me of someone,” Shinji said quietly, looking away. “Someone who’s gone because of the EVAs.” He heard Asuka inhale sharply, but ignored her. “Asuka and I are the only EVA pilots still alive, and everyone else in the world is gone or a part of the ocean.” Glancing at the three newcomers, he saw Kairi begin to frown.  
  
“We didn’t mean to upset you, but Riku’s right,” Kairi said sadly, then glanced at the ocean briefly. “I guess it’s true, then, that everyone’s hearts are in this ocean.”  
  
“But that’s why we’re here,” Sora, pressed, seemingly unwilling to give up. “If you come with us, you can help us put the hearts in the ocean back to normal.” There were a few short seconds of silence.  
  
“…Wait a minute,” Asuka accused. “You didn’t say that before.” She kept glancing at Shinji, but he was determinedly staring out at the ocean now. Were everyone’s hearts really in that orange sea? And was it actually possible to turn everyone back to normal? But what if the really important ones weren’t there? Would he have to fight again, only to be let down? Did he really-  
  
“You are wrong,” a strange, deep voice called out from the far end of the beach. Whipping around, Shinji was met with the sight of a large, burly man with short, silver hair that stuck out behind him. He was dressed entirely in black leather, and Shinji’s eye was drawn to the metal claw on the back of one of that man’s hands and the wicked smile on his face. “This Ocean of Hearts, this Kingdom Hearts, belongs to us and to Mother.”  
  
…Mother?  
  
“Hey!” Sora called back, crouching into an aggressive posture as a giant key materialized out of nowhere into his hands. Was this what a Keyblade was? And who was that man? “Who are you, anyway? If you think we’re going to let you control the hearts, you’re wrong.” This seemed to anger the man, who, with a gesture, created four large, black pools in the ground. The pools shone like deep, oily slicks on the surface of the sand, and Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle in an urgent warning.  
  
“I am Loz,” the man said. “If you get in the way of my brothers and I, or of Mother,” he growled, face twisted in a scowl, “you will pay the price – with your hearts.” Out of the black pools came a multitude of glowing, yellow lights that Shinji realized, with a sinking sense of horror, were eyes. As the eyes rose out of the darkness, he could see the small, black bodies around them, complete with a twitching pair of antennae each. Soon, enough of the creatures had amassed that they easily covered the side of the beach the man was standing on.  
  
“We won’t ever let the Heartless take our hearts!” Kairi said, pulling out her own giant key from thin air, which, with its flower and waterfall motif, looked like a garden in paradise. At the same time, Riku drew his own – there were no other words, he just _knew_ – Keyblade, which seemed like the complete blending of light and dark itself, pure white feathers directly beside deep maroon bat wings. Bristling again, the man now known as Loz threw his arm to the side as another swirling, dark portal opened up in the air.  
  
“You’ll obey Mother’s wishes and stay out of our way if you know what’s good for you,” he said, stepping into the portal and leaving the rest of them with the small creatures with the glowing eyes.  
  
“Aw man,” Sora sighed, somewhat resigned. “Why can’t things ever be _easy_ , for once?” The creatures began to move closer towards them, small feet shuffling and clawlike hands reaching at them, sometimes melting into puddles and sliding along the ground.  
  
“What _are_ those things?” Asuka asked, disgust heavy in her voice.  
  
“Heartless,” Riku responded, grimacing. “Mostly Shadows and some Neoshadows, but there’s a lot of them.” Now that Shinji’s attention had been drawn to them, he could see that some of the creatures – Heartless, he reminded himself – were slightly larger, with larger claws, jagged antennae, and sleeker lines. “You should call your Keyblades now,” Riku said.  
  
“Are you really sure we can fight them?” Shinji questioned, backing slowly away as a group of the Heartless moved closer towards him. In his periphery, he could see Sora and Kairi each fighting groups of Heartless on their own.  
  
“The Keyblades will defeat them,” Riku said, strained, attention divided between his own group of foes and Shinji. “Call them, now!” he shouted suddenly, alarmed and running towards Shinji and Asuka. Asuka yelled, and Shinji turned to see one of the larger Heartless leaping towards him, claws extended. Bringing his arms in front of himself to shield his face, he saw a bright flash of light. Eyes snapping closed, he waited for the blow to fall.  
  
When the pain did not come, nor any other sound at all, Shinji slowly moved his hands away from his face. Cracking one eye open hesitantly and finding the beach completely gone, he quickly opened the other one in order to inspect his new surroundings. He was nowhere _near_ the beach, that was for sure; an empty blackness stretched all around, and under his feet, the floor was a massive, round panel of stained glass.


End file.
